Brandix Lanka Limited has been recognised as Asia's 'Best Brand' and 'Best Employer Brand' winning dual honours at a prestigious international forum held in Singapore with the representation of 37 countries in Asia, extending from the Middle East to Australia.

Sri Lanka's top apparel exporter was presented with the awards for 'Asia's Best Brand' by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and 'Asia's Best Employer Brand' by the Employer Branding Institute together with the World HRD Congress and the Stars of the Industry Group at the 2011 CMO Asia Awards for Excellence in Branding and Marketing.

Ishan Dantanarayana, Chief People Officer (CPO) of the Brandix Group accepted the award for 'Asia's Best Employer Brand' on behalf of the Group, while Anuk De Silva, Head of Corporate Communications of Brandix collected the award for 'Asia's Best Brand.' Ms. Ashanthi Fernando, Head of Group HR Operations and Sujith Jayasekara, Group Works HR Manager of Brandix also attended the event which was held at the SUNTEC Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre on 22nd July 2011.

The gala awards ceremony is said to have been attended by more than 200 eminent individuals in the region including leaders and senior decision makers in the spheres of Marketing, Branding and Human Resources as well as top bureaucrats.

Asia's Best Brand Awards are judged by the Global Research Cell of the CMO Council, whose members control over US $ 200 billion in marketing spend, based on market dominance, brand longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and market acceptance.

Contribution to society

Apart from financial aspects, 'contribution to society' is also considered for the awards. Brandix's commitment to reducing its Group-wide processing Carbon Footprint and its employee-friendly practices were cited among the reasons for awarding the Group top honours in the category.

Brandix was conferred Asia's Best Employer Brand Award, initiated as a celebration of the best talent in Human Resources Development in the region, based on the Group's strength in HR initiatives.

These practices include, creating a culture of contribution and innovation at work, believing in a continuous journey of excellence in Human Resource policy and practices by driving a positive organisational health and inculcating values that help to achieve the vision, transformation, being a social employer and developing future leaders.

Some of the other prominent winners in this year's Best Employer Brand award category were General Electric, Coca Cola, Microsoft, Oracle, HSBC, Yahoo!, Singapore Airlines, ANZ Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Marriott, Changi Airport, Panasonic, Emirates, Pfizer, Walmart, Lenovo, AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines, Prudential, Fuji Xerox, National Bank of Bahrain, Hong Kong Disneyland, Dubai Airports, LG Electronics, Nokia Siemens and Procter & Gamble.

"Brandix has once again demonstrated that its HR practices match the best global standards and are fully aligned with business strategy," Brandix Group CPO Ishan Dantanarayana said. "The Best Brand Award reflects the Group's success in developing a mature brand across multiple industries, not just the apparel sector."

In the company of elite brands

For the Best Brand award category, Brandix was in the company of other elite brands such as Adidas, Coca Cola, Emirates, Fonterra Brands, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, Nestle, Nokia, A.S. Watson Group, Doha Bank, HSBC, MediaCorp, Starbucks, Telstra Corporation, Thai Airways, Procter & Gamble and MasterCard.

In the area of Human Resources Development, Brandix has engaged in a number of HR initiatives under the theme 'a Great Place to Work.' Intended to create avenues and opportunities for associates and build a culture of striving for excellence, appreciation, team spirit, commitment and camaraderie; these initiatives encompass Employee Reward & Recognition, Compensation & Benefit, Training & Development and a centralised Performance Management System. It also entails striving for execution, a service driven HR, sharing of best practices, automation and brand building.

"As a top brand in apparel manufacture, Brandix is credited with being the pioneer of the concept of 'total solutions' in Sri Lanka's apparel sector and as a local and global leader in eco-friendly manufacturing operations. Brandix is a preferred solutions provider to some of the world's leading apparel brands, including Victoria's Secret, PINK, Gap, Banana Republic, Marks & Spencer, Lands' End, Tommy Hilfiger, Hanes, Express, H&M, Old Navy, Intimissimi and Tesco," the company said.